Tri-Area Electric has a major hand in one of the latest high-profile additions to the Youngstown State University campus; a building that will bridge the Mahoning Valley into the next generation of manufacturing technology.
YSU’s Excellence Training Center on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Commerce Street is a $12 million project earmarked for completion in March 2021. Tri-Area Electric, a NECA-IBEW Electricians member, is the electrical contractor.
Tim Groves (left) and Dave Milne install conduit for the floor boxes in the new entryway for the YSU Excellence Training Center, scheduled for completion in March 2021.
“We’re remodeling an existing building, the former Mahoning County Minimum Security Jail, and adding an adjoining structure that will double its square footage,” said Greg Voytilla, a journeyman electrician for Tri-Area on the project.
When completed, the building will have 54,000 square feet for classrooms, high-end 3D printing, a foundry with an electric arc furnace, manufacturing labs, CNC machining labs and more.
Tri-Area Electric’s Alex Csernyik lands wires in the CT cabinet as part of the electrical contractor’s work on YSU’s latest campus addition.
The university anticipates usage of the space from numerous local agencies, such as Eastern Gateway, Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition and local manufacturers on workforce development, innovation, education and research initiatives.
Tri-Area is installing the main electrical, lighting, fire alarm, access control and emergency power generators, while subcontractor and fellow NECA-IBEW Electricians member Zenith Systems is doing data, camera and security cabling.
The age of the building being retrofitted has added some challenges that Tri-Area has worked through with building engineers and architects.
“It’s pretty standard technology electrically, but the challenge has been working some of these systems into an old building whose original purpose wasn’t built for this,” Voytilla said. “There’s been some re-engineering on the fly as we come across ceiling heights and plumbing lines that won’t accommodate what some of the drawings are calling for.”